Telangana: Owaisi bats for ‘Muslim Bandhu Scheme’; attacks BRS

Hyderabad: In an overt and rare attack on the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi called for the implementation of a Muslim Bandhu scheme in Telangana, while pointing out the lack of policies from the BRS that focused on the community.

During most of his speech made during a public meeting in Sadasivpet, Owaisi engaged in a retort to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s jibe about the “steering wheel” of the BRS government being in the former’s hands.

In his speech, Owaisi listed out numerous facts displaying how the government had spent crores on the construction and upkeep of Hindu temples. He criticised the lack of schemes from the BRS for the Muslim community.

Owaisi also blamed the secular parties in the country for toeing the soft-Hindutva line. “If you have to defeat the BJP, defeat them on the basis of ideology,” he added.

Old City’s woes

The AIMIM chief lamented about the BRS’s neglect of the Old City. Hyderabad’s Old City is home to a large number of Muslims in the state.

“If the steering was in my hand, a 5-6 km stretch of the metro (that has been long pending) would have already come up in the Old City,” he said.

Owaisi also questioned the lack of development of the Osmania Hospital. “It’s not just the poor from the Old City that depends on it, the whole of South Telangana does,” he stressed.

Earlier, in an address to a crowd in Adilabad, Owaisi had said that the AIMIM would consider contesting from seats outside the Old City of Hyderabad. ‘A decision will be taken after consulting with all stakeholders,’ he added.

Backward classes ‘being used’

Owaisi also alleged that the BJP is using backward classes of the country for its Hindutva project. “The government of India is in your (Amit Shah’s) hand, why are you not giving jobs to Dalits, Scheduled Tribes and backward classes?” he asked.

Using the smokescreen of Muslim hatred, the BJP is keeping the backwards classes of the country away from their rights, Owaisi said.

During the speech, Owaisi also launched a scathing attack on the BJP over its state chief Bandi Sanjay’s claim that it will conduct a “surgical strike in Telangana’s Old City.” Mount a surgical strike on China instead, he said.